Gluten Free and Vegetarian Cooking

Meal Plan Monday, February 14, 2011

This week’s Gluten Free Menu Swap is being hosted byGluten Free Goodness with a theme of “Food as Love”. Quite fitting, don’t you think? You did remember Valentine’s Day, right?

Well, around here this theme fits. We don’t give gifts or make a big deal out of certain dates or holidays. We just appreciate each other every day and show it in those little ways that couples do. That said, in honor of the holiday, we will be having my husband’s favorite meal – PIZZA! – along with a chocolate dessert for us both – we both love chocolate. In fact this evening I jokingly asked him what he got me for Valentine’s Day and he told me that we were playing by the “Japanese rules” this year. This means that the women buy all the MEN in their lives chocolate. Uh-huh. We’ll see about that…

Last week we didn’t get to everything because we had so many leftovers from the tacos and we ended up going out one night. So this week is a lot of repeats from last week.

Pizza! and Salad

Pasta with Red Lentils and Ginger – from Vegetarian Planet – we have a huge jar of red lentils in the pantry

So does it count if you bought the man the chocolate and then proceeded to eat half of it? I think I may have started a new tradition. You reminded me that I was going to get out my long-neglected pressure cooker. Maybe next week’s menu…

Wendy – Nice one. Although I did stop by Walgreen’s on my way home and bought some chocolate and left it on his chair. I plan on eating half too, no worries! And he asked me if indeed it was all ‘his’ or if he had to share…he knows me well after almost 13 years!

So sad about the tamales ending! It seems like it has been so nice to have them on hand in the freezer. Talk about food as love – whenever I make something ahead and freeze it, it feels like such a lovely gift from me to future me!

Pasta with red lentils and ginger sounds super intriguing. I love red lentils! I should check out Vegetarian Planet. It seems like you make a lot of great stuff from it.

Did I tell you I joined Paperback Book Swap? I can’t remember if I told you when I signed up. I finally posted my first books today! Very exciting. All I want right now are cookbooks, though, and there aren’t any vegan ones there right now. I’m sure I’ll find exciting treasures in the future, though.

I know, right? Guess we have to make some more tamales. The decision being what kind! I am not so good about making things and freezing them. Even soups don’t sound or look all that appetizing to me after they have been in the freezer. The exception being my mom’s chili (meat-filled). I need to get better about that. Although we tend to eat up all our leftovers and don’t get bored with those, so we don’t usually have much to freeze. Luckily over the past 13 years, I have taught my husband to be okay with leftovers. I won’t say ‘like leftovers’ because I know he would rather have something else, unless it’s pizza of course!

So it was you – I wondered who gave me a credit on PBS! Thanks so much! I hope you’ll enjoy. I will have to go check out your ‘bookshelf’! Make sure you wishlist whatever you want and then when it comes up, they will offer it to you. I have a whole ton of wish list items…I am a book whore, as my husband calls me, both novels and cookbooks!

And yes, I am enjoying Veg Planet. I’ll let you know if I like the Pasta with Lentils. The ginger sounds like an interesting combo….? But everything I’ve made s far sounds great, so I’ll give it a whirl once!